Question

Summary: I am writing a macro that takes names from many different sheets in an excel file and compiles them together on a “master list”, but I’m having trouble with referencing a cell on another sheet.

The Problem: When I refer to a specific cell using the sheet name as reference with Sheets("MasterList").ActiveCell.Offset(0, 1), nothing gets picked up. However, when I remove Sheets("MasterList") the macro works fine (the macro is currently on “MasterList” at the time which is the only way this would work). Also, the spelling for the name of the sheet was correct in my code.

Question: Why is this happening? The logic behind the code seems sound, and I’m spelling my sheet name correctly.

Code:

Do              

   If Sheets("MasterList").ActiveCell.Offset(0, 1) = firstName Then        'IF FIRST AND LAST NAMES MATCH, EXIT THE CHECK

          Exit Do

   End If

   On Error Resume Next

   Cells.Find(What:=lastName, After:=ActiveCell, LookIn:=xlFormulas, _
   LookAt:=xlPart, SearchOrder:=xlByRows, SearchDirection:=xlNext, _
   MatchCase:=False, SearchFormat:=False).Activate

Loop Until Err.Number > 0

Answer 1

ActiveCell is a property of the Application object, not a Sheet.

There is only one ActiveCell, and it is the active cell on the currently active sheet.

It’s not entirely clear what you are trying to do. But in general you should avoid Select and Activate with this sort of code. Use instead somthing like:

Dim wsMasterList as Worksheet
Set wsMasterList = Thisworkbook.WorkSheets("MasterList")  ' assuming the vba code is in the workbook containing MasterList

To track the last used cell in MasterList use a variable like

Dim rMasterList as Range
Set rMasterList = wsMasterList.Cells( ...  ' Specify the cell you want

Then use rMasterList.Offset(0, 1) to refer to cells relative to that cell

Searching on MasterList use:

Dim cl as Range
Set cl = wsMasterList.UsedRange.Find( ... )
If Not cl Is Nothing Then
    ' cl will be Nothing if the search term is not found
    ' ...